


He Is Life Itself

by PrinceSircastic



Category: Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), The Hollow Crown (2012)
Genre: M/M, adorable young love, and lots of fluff too, will contain several servings of angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-15
Updated: 2013-02-15
Packaged: 2017-11-29 09:43:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/685539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinceSircastic/pseuds/PrinceSircastic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You have eyes, Huntsman, and yet you do not see. You who have been with him the longest." </p><p>They meet as children in the city streets, an unlikely pair who find common ground in their desire for freedom. What begins as a fond friendship develops into more, until their lives are entwined so strongly they could not break free even if they wished to.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He Is Life Itself

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a series of mini-fics/oneshots surrounding the friendship and relationship of Hal and Eric. They'll be roughly in chronological order, starting with the first time they meet and ending... well, I'm sure you can guess.  
> Please thank my friend Niwa for giving me the inspiration to write this. It's all because of her~
> 
> And just as a note: Eric is roughly about six years older than Hal.

The boy was clearly lost, that much was certain. No one in such fine velvet and silk garments would willingly venture this far from the grander parts of the city, and certainly not someone so young. Eric placed him as no more than eight, possibly nine. A mere child. He was wandering rather aimlessly, kicking at loose stones on the street around him, his arms swinging idly at his sides. 

Perhaps not lost, after all, Eric mused as he studied the boy's face. There was no fear, no worry, only a faint little smile that Eric had seen on his own face in the mirror from time to time. It was a smile of freedom. Still, it was dangerous for a boy like him to wander defenceless like this. Eric ducked behind a cart as the boy passed him by, and watched him closely.

He was very slender, with skinny arms and legs, and had a head of soft-looking bronze curls that reached the top of the high collar of his velvet jacket. Eric decided he looked far too clean to be normal. Normal boys had dirt under their nails and grass stains on the knees of their breeches, and leaf litter in their hair. No boy who had any fun ever looked that clean. 

Curious, Eric began to follow him, keeping out of sight. His mother had told him often that his curiosity would get him into trouble one day, and he was forever determined to prove her wrong. Besides, what trouble could he possibly run into? The boy turned down another street, heading towards the forest at the edge of the city, and Eric jogged to catch up with him. He figured this would be good practice, too – he wanted to be a Huntsman, just like his father had been, and like his older brother was now. Huntsmen had to be quiet, stealthy, and good at tracking. He was getting better every day. Soon enough he'd be able to take on jobs, and help his brother put food on their family's table. 

"I know you are following me." Or not. Eric froze and pressed himself back against a wall, wincing a little. How had the boy known? He had been perfectly silent! "If you want something, you should not hide." He considered running away, pretending he had never been there and just forgetting about the boy, but before he'd even finished that thought he found himself stepping out into the street. The boy smiled brightly and stepped forward, regarding him with a curious stare. "Why are you following me?" 

"You looked lost." Eric shrugged, knowing it was a pathetic excuse. "We do not get boys like you 'round here." 

"What is your name?" The boy was still smiling, and looked altogether too friendly. Strange children were never friendly. Not around here. "My name is Harry." A hand was stretched out towards him, and Eric stared at it for a moment, trying to work out if he should take it or not. His curiosity got the better of him, however, and he stepped up closer and took the outstretched hand in his own. The boy's – Harry's – hand was small within his own, his skin paler and softer. 

"I am Eric." He told him. "What are you doing here? You are far from home." 

"I was walking, obviously." Harry shrugged one shoulder. "Until my walk was disturbed by a shadow I picked up a street or two back."

"Pretty little rich boys like you should not walk alone in these streets. Not unless you want to get back to your lord father in one piece." Eric crossed his arms over his chest, not sure how he should feel about this oddly friendly little boy. "Why do you not run home to mama?" The change in Harry was instant, and a little frightening – anger flared up in his eyes, and his hands curled into fists as he stepped right up into Eric's personal space. 

"Do not speak of my mother!" He hissed, jabbing Eric in the chest with one finger. Eric was surprised to find that it  _hurt_. "You have no right to speak of her!" 

"Okay, okay… easy…" Eric held up both hands in surrender. "You are rather feisty for such a small kid…" He smiled a little, watching the fire in his eyes simmer down to a gentle smoulder. "How old are you? Six?" 

"I am eight." Harry scowled, stepping back a little as he continued to glare at him. "And it would do you well to leave me alone." 

"If I did, you would find yourself in trouble." Eric rolled his eyes. "You are a walking target for thieves and thugs." 

"I can take care of myself! Father saw to it that I receive lessons in battle." Eric merely raised an eyebrow. 

"Well, if you insist…" He made to turn away, but at the last second he swept Harry's legs out from beneath him, and watched him sprawl in the dirt. "Oh, yes. Those lessons are well worth it, clearly." Harry stared up at him with a mixture of shock and hurt, and for a moment Eric panicked, thinking he was about to burst into tears. "Are… are you hurt?" 

"I am fine." Harry muttered, brushing dirt from his hands. "No one dares lay a hand on me at home." 

"Then how are you ever supposed to learn anything?" Eric held out his hand to him, and he was a little surprised when Harry actually took it, and let him pull him to his feet. "If no one attempts to hurt you?" 

"That is what I think, but nothing can be done. They are all too scared to mark me, out of fear for my father." Harry shrugged. "You would be scared, too, if you knew who he was." 

"I fear no one unless I am given a reason to." Eric puffed out his chest proudly. "A Huntsman fears nothing that cannot do him great harm." 

"Huntsman?" Harry's head tilted to one side. "What is that?" 

"A Huntsman is a great warrior and a hunter, the best in his field. He can track anything and anyone when others cannot, and he will travel to places no other will dare to. He is brave and strong, and skilled." 

"Are you a Huntsman?" Harry's voice was laced with a hint of awe, and Eric smiled smugly, feeling proud. 

"I am, yes. Well… almost." Eric admitted sheepishly, dragging a hand through his unruly dark hair. Still, the kid seemed impressed. 

"That sounds like a lot of fun." Harry huffed a little, crossing his arms over his chest. "I wish I could do that." 

"Why can you not?" Eric shrugged. "You could run away from your lord father and do what you want." 

"I cannot. My future has already been decided for me." Eric heard the hint of sadness in Harry's voice, and frowned – everyone should choose their path for themselves, he believed. No one should be forced into something they did not want. What could this boy's father possibly have planned for him? "And if I were to run away, no doubt I would be hunted down by a hundred men in my father's name."

"A hundred? That seems a bit excessive…" 

"I am no ordinary boy." Harry sighed heavily, distracting himself by brushing dirt from his clothes. "There are men searching for me even now, I would imagine. No doubt my absence has been detected." 

"Maybe you ought to go back then, instead of wandering around on your own." Eric suggested, suddenly not wanting to be seen in his company. He had heard stories of innocent people being accused of all sorts of crimes because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. He definitely did not want to be accused of kidnapping this little lordling. 

"I do not want to." Harry turned and stared almost longingly at the wide expanse of forest not far from them. "Is it so much to ask for a little taste of freedom?" No, Eric thought. No, it isn't. 

"Come with me." He blurted out, holding out his hand to Harry. "I know a place the men will not find you, until you want to be found." Harry stared at him in surprise, and he hesitated, uncertain. Eric could tell that he was fighting a battle inside his head, trying to decide if he should run off with this strange boy or not. In the end, Harry's hand slipped into his, and the decision was made. 

Eric's face broke out into a grin immediately, and he took off at a run, almost dragging the poor boy behind him. Harry soon caught up, however, a matching grin on his own face, and as they hopped over the low fence bordering the city and tumbled into the forest, he began to laugh. Eric thought it was one of the most wonderful sounds he had heard so far in his life. They ran until they could run no more, Eric leading him this way and that until he pulled him to a stop beside a large tree. 

"Can you climb?" He asked Harry, who nodded. Grinning once more, Eric jumped up and caught the lowest branch with ease, pulling himself up into the tree. Harry was shorter than he was, and so he hugged the branch with his legs and bent down to extend a hand to him, helping him into the tree. Up and up they climbed, Harry keeping up with Eric at surprising speed, until at last they crawled up onto a small wooden platform that had obviously been put here by young and eager hands. "This is where I come to be alone sometimes." Eric shrugged, slumping against a branch against one side. Harry remained by the edge, peering through the leaves at the city they'd left behind. His eyes looked brighter now, and his smile had not faded once. 

He didn't look as clean anymore, either. Eric thought he definitely looked more normal now. 

Harry knew he would be in trouble when he did eventually return to the castle. He wasn't supposed to wander off on his own – not yet, anyway, not until he was almost a man grown if his father had his way – and he certainly wasn't supposed to shake off the guard that followed him around wherever he went. He was supposed to be at his studies, but he had no care for the boring history of his family and of the throne. He wanted to ride horses through empty fields and through forests. He wanted to explore. He wanted the freedom he would soon be denied. 

He glanced back at the odd boy who had followed him and taken him away to this special place. He was nothing like the children he saw on occasion in the castle, and he was certainly nothing like his brothers. Harry wished he could have a friend like him in the castle – his only friend was a boy around his own age, Ned, who his father had given to him after his mother had died, and Harry had not yet bothered to get to know him. He doubted Ned was anything like Eric. 

He sat back against the tree beside him, his eyes still fixed on the city. If he listened hard enough, he could imagine the shouts of the men searching for him in the streets, and the thought made him smile. They'd never find him here. For the next couple of hours, he could relax and enjoy his peace and his freedom. 

When he finally stood before his father, filthy and unkempt, and listened to his scolding, Harry's only thought was that it had been worth it – and he was already planning his next escape to the edge of the city, where Eric would be waiting for him.


End file.
